Night view of the Tiananmen Square early Saturday morning (XINHUA)

The last round of rehearsal for the massive National Day celebrations in Tian'anmen Square concluded early Saturday morning, about ten days ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which falls on October 1.

Starting late Friday evening, the rehearsal featured a grand military parade, a mass pageant involving about 100,000 citizens and 60 simulated floats, and a background performance involving 80,000 primary and middle school students.

A planned rehearsal on September 26 had been called off to avoid further affecting the public, said a spokesperson for the celebrations preparation committee of the Beijing municipal government.

The four rounds of rehearsals had helped the organizers to spot and solve problems in preparation of the gala event, the spokesperson said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2009)